LibriVox Forum

Hello,

This issue feels like a déjà vu for me; so my apologies if we dealt with this elsewhere or elsewhen.

The question is whether works published in Spain that are PD in Spain now (up to 1940 precisely) can be included in the LibriVox catalogue, or whether LibriVox sticks to the American deadlines (up to 1925) no matter what, so that Spanish material published by authors deceased between 1925 and 1940 could not be uploaded even if it is PD. Is this how it works?

Thanks,

Joan Pujolar

LibriVox follows US copyright. So works must be out of copyright in the USA.

In addition, you should also follow the laws of the country you're in. So for me, anything I do for LV must be PD in the USA, plus the author must have died more than 50 years ago (Canada is a Death+50 country).

So for you in Spain, the work should be published in 1925 or earlier, PLUS the author died in 1940 or earlier.

One other option you have is to record works for legamus.eu which is an offshoot of LibriVox. They do works that are PD in Europe (Death+70 years) but that aren't PD in the USA. It's a much slower website, fewer people over there, but it is an option.

Another consideration is that the rules for applying US copyright law to works published outside the US are complex. Some works published internationally after 1925 are PD in the US, but we at LibriVox don't have the legal expertise to make that determination. Instead, we can rely on two websites that have reputable copyright review programs: Project Gutenberg and HathiTrust.

I would first check Project Gutenberg (gutenberg.org), because that's the easiest option. If they have the text, we can use it.

Then I would check HathiTrust (hathitrust.org). If the text is available in Full View in the US (ask us if you need to check this), and in your country, it would also be acceptable here.

Michael

Many thanks. I hope things are well in Toronto. I spent there a lovely half a year in 2004-5.

Kazbek wrote: ↑May 22nd, 2021, 9:32 am I would first check Project Gutenberg (gutenberg.org), because that's the easiest option. If they have the text, we can use it.

Just a slight clarification: If Project Gutenberg has the text, and the "Copyright Status" on the landing page for the ebook states "Public domain in the USA," then LV can use it. PG does have some offerings that are under copyright in the U.S., which would be noted in the "Copyright Status" and cannot be used as PD by LibriVox.

FYI,
Don (also a contributor of ebooks to PG)

Thanks for the clarification, Don. Yes, though I haven't yet come across non-English texts under US copyright at PG, there might be some of those out there.

Michael